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If you’re used to cooking pork or beef ribs, then you already know: it doesn’t pay to rush the process. This is even more true of buffalo meat, which contains less fat and cooks faster, too. To level the playing field, buffalo ribs should be cooked slowly and at a relatively low temperature to bring out the rich flavor of the meat. Lock in that succulent flavor by baking your buffalo ribs in foil. They’ll be worth the wait.

Preheat your oven to 225 degrees Fahrenheit. Pour about 1 cup of water at the bottom of a roasting pan. Set a rack inside the pan.

Place the buffalo ribs on top of the rack, meat side up. If you are cooking multiple slabs of ribs, lay them in a single layer; do not stack them. Season the ribs with salt, pepper and, if you wish, some minced garlic. Cover the ribs with foil. Use two sheets, if necessary, and overlap the pieces to ensure the foil covers all four sides of the roasting pan so that no steam escapes.

Bake the ribs for 3 hours. Turn the roasting pan 180 degrees after 90 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare your barbecue sauce and set it aside. To enhance the flavor of the buffalo, you may wish to prepare a sauce that is more tomato-based than the one you use for pork or beef ribs.

Remove the ribs from the oven. Turn the oven to broil. Carefully remove the foil; steam will escape and the ribs will be hot. Brush the ribs with sauce and return them to the oven, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Brush them with sauce again and bake for 5 minutes more, or until the ribs are nicely browned on the edges.

Test the doneness of the ribs, if you wish. Buffalo meat should reach an internal temperature of between 135 and 155 degrees Fahrenheit. It is, however, difficult to test the temperature of buffalo ribs with a meat thermometer because the meat is not as thick, say, as that of a steak or piece of chicken. Plus, the temperature may vary from one end of the slab to the other.Let the ribs rest for 5 minutes before cutting one slab in half and inspecting the meat for doneness.

Items you will need

Roasting pan

Rack

Salt

Pepper

Minced garlic (optional)

Aluminum foil

Barbecue sauce

Meat thermometer (optional)

Tip

Store buffalo ribs from your butcher or favorite grocer in the coldest section of your refrigerator.

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About the Author

With education, health care and small business marketing as her core interests, M.T. Wroblewski has penned pieces for Woman's Day, Family Circle, Ladies Home Journal and many newspapers and magazines. She holds a master's degree in journalism from Northern Illinois University.